REGISTRATION OP GRADE COWS. • AN ASSOCIATION WANTED. There is an opportunity (remarks "Hoard's Dairyman") to establish registries for grade stock of the dif ; ferent breeds where records are re quired before animals are admitted to registration. For instance, a grade cow five years or more that has pro duced 360M). of fat would be eligible to registration, but her progeny could not be registered until it had made the required amount of fat. If this sort of a registry were estab lished it would mean the elimination of all poor producing animals and wouM in time produce an exceptional \ dairy bread, for it would only be a i matter of time when all inferior ani- | mals would be eliminated. I An association for the above pur pose would be of immense benefit to , the dairying industry, and would in no way be antagonistic to the good work the special breed associations ( are doing. The producing power of a j cow is, after all, the real test of her j value, and any movement to increase her...

THE INVENTION OF THE STUSViP JUtVlP PLOUGH. iVii\ il. JB. Smith, to whom Austra lian agriculturists are deeply indebted, recently wrote m reply-to 'a letter ot congratulation, as foUows :—"I shall be lo yearn of age on 2nd September, and my dear old wife will be 70 on Uih : January next. iou might let the peo . pia oi South Australia know that am still alive and going strong. They used to .say 'tiiat 1 would die in a madhouse ior thinking that I could fashion a plough that would jump stumps." Although, from time to time, (.says the "Scottish Farmer''), 'there have been several claimants for the honor of having originated the stump-juniper, it is generally acknow ledged that "The Vixen," turned out in Juno, 1S76, by Mr. Smith (who m the designing and making of the im plement had "the valuable assistance of j his brother, Mr. C. H. Smith), was the pioneer. Ho registered his in vention on 10th February, 1877, but ' owing to the difficulties and expense j attaching to the operation, did...

THE POULTRY FARM. CLEAN EGGS. In order to have clean eggs it b necessary to have clean nests. Nesti should be lined with clean straw. W&amp;lt; have tried various kinds of nests, in eluding several patent sanitary nesti and have yet to find one that is self cleaning. After years of experiment ing along this line we have at las&amp;lt; come to what I call a solution of tin problem. We are now using wire screen bottom nests entirely, and they are giving perfect satisfaction. Not only are they self-cleaning but they are also better in the respect that eggs do not get nearly so cast ly broken in them. We use one-fourth-iDCh galvanised wire screening, and tack it on to the bottom of the nests where the boards ordinarily go. These wire-bottom nests .also make it, much easier to. keep the nests free from lice or mites. To our way of thinking it is by fai the very best nest for laying hens. For sitting hens we do not recom mend it because the eggs in it evapo rate \too much. Gather ...

HOW TO MAKE A FLY-TRAP. An ingenious dairyman has con structed a home-made fly-trap which he has found effective in ridding his place of business of the pests. Tbe trap is made from a box lift. long,,, lft. high, and 1ft. wide, both the sides and the top being: sawn out and covered with wire netting. The box is then raised about a foot from the floor, and the neck of a large funnel is run up through the bottom of the 'box arid adjusted tight, so that the mouth of the funnel is about an inch from the floor. A saucer of molasses or something: sweet to draw the flies is set under the mouth of the funnel, leaving room for the flies to go up the funnel and into the box. As soon as the box is filled the flics are drowned, and the process repeated. "Now this," said the barber, hold ing up a pink bottle, "is a splendid thing for baldness." " Thank you," replied his victim, coldly. "I have all the baldness 1 re quire."

■'MELSftURNE LETTER (From our Special OorrcbpondeuL.) An industry which is" not new, but which seams to be developing, has been muoh in evidence lately. Lt is that in which ladies more ore less young, sow harrowing tales ot blighted hopes and mangled affections into the oars of sympathetic jurymen,' and reap sub stantial crops in the shape of damages. Like all enterprises that open up pros pects of big easy money—to wit, pic ture shows, dance halls, aud Tango teas—this will probably be exploit _d for all it is worth. But the field for it is not likely to' remain easy. Like * the wild duck a few days after the opening of the season, th/j quarry is likely to become wary. I-t, therefore, does not'oall for an altogether absurd stretch of imagination to carry us for ward to the time, when th>3 stationers will stock, in addition to the custom ary forms, for -making a will and such like, blank agreement forms which can readily be.filled in'with a fountain.pen or indelible pencil, by the...

Marnoorf (From Our Correspondent .) The copious downpour of rain has. changed th&amp;' face of thing's, and re lieved the anxiety of many.' and lightened the labors of those ■who' have had to cart Water The town ship is growing" apace to the south ward, and wp hear that r. W. Ste phens has bought ths old Presby terian Kirk site, and is going to1 build there. The new kirk is very nearly completed. Its ornate design, Norman windows, and high roof sur mounted by S. Andrew's Cross, adds dignity to and is an acquisition to the architectures- of the town. The opening, services are to be held on Sunday, May 3, at II and /.30,' When the Rev H. C. Matthew, of Stawelir will preach. A social tea and con cert are announced for Friday even ing, May 8 th. The district is still looking for. S liberal supply of blue metal for the roads,- and the linking up of the' rails between Marmoo and Navarre, The' attention of contractors and. builders is directed to an savt. appear ing in this issue, ia'v...

obituary: OLD RESIDENT PASSES5' After a somewhat lingering illness^ Mrs Johnston, an old and resp'ectecl resident of the Rtipanyup district, pass'Sd peacefully away on 9th inst, F6r some morths past she had been" under the care of Mrs Kennedy, of-' Mill-street. The deceased was She ' mother of Mr A Bickers, of "Warra nooke, and Mrs Gondy, of Grcelong The remains were interred in the' Church of England portion of the' local cemetery on' Gobd Pi iday. la the absence of the Rev. H. A. Hay den, the'Rev. J. A.-Phillips read tlie! bur al service. The funeral arrangements werff carried out satisfactorily by Mr.R, MeCracken. ■i r - - ■ n

FOR THE CHILDREN: * • THERE'S ND PLACE LIKE HOME. "I like the old-fashioned songs best," | said grandfather. "t>mg 'rloine, Sweet j ilonie,' darlings; that's lite song for i me." "Very well, grandfather, ive will,1' said Julia, readiiy;. "Come along, Piiemsej you are ciiief songstress, you Know. i will play the accompani ment." i'liey had fresh sweet voices, these i'.vo young girls, and as tiu light or the. ....did lamp fell full 011 men- bngut Jair and pretty evomug stocks, they made a picture that migut have satit.-: .ied other eyes, besides iho.se of a lov ing grandfather. ■' inere's- jjo place like hone!" The. woixis were sr.nl echoing varough the room as iJiie.tme returned 10 iic-r seat, only to iiau ;ier p.ace occupied by Jack, who hau" spread ms "rubb as Pne mie called it, all over xl-- talne at which she usually sat. "Clear it away, Jack!'' uie said, with a little imperious wave 01 her uand. "I cannot have all this xrash uttered, over my work tabu?." "Trash!'' said Jack, ...

|0F:ll6Mi IMTEMfr ■ —-—— • i .. (By ''Rusticus.") There, are- anmy -stories, as to the /'Northern "■"'■Territory and its possibili ties, and their variety is as great as " their number. The whole gamut is ' covered by these accounts—from wiiu impractiable wilderness to prodigal tro pical pro'iiicness. - For"those desirous of gauung information as to the actual prospects, it is necessary to take ai&amp;lt; the stories, aud judge them by nit qualifications a ad experience of the au thors. In this way a contribution by Mr. Allan Hood, a V ictoria, who hulas a position on the Government experi mental farm at IhuoheJor, is of interest .. .and. possibly of value. He writes:— liI tnoughi that you migut care to know some 01 the latest concerning this farm'. There- have been so insnj adverse reports, and untrue, that it gets very annoying-toread tnem. Weil, we had a g^od crop of cow-pea to start with. 'i'uis crop gr^iV w&amp;lt;-li r-ght ic-iiu the time it was sown. • It was plant eu...

CHAPTER XIX. THE MATE OF THE ROATHCEA. It was a big drop from the bul- ! wark of the King of Troy, and Dick ; went far under "wten.be struck. There \ was a buzzing in his ears, and a j flash of pale light before his eyes. But he was a good swimmer, and he | held his breath while he made ener- ! getic use of hands and feet. He came ! quickly to the surface, filled his ? lungs, and looked eagerly round. The j sea was still boiling and heaving j from the effects of the explosion, and he was down in a trough of the waves. The next instant he was flung [ up on a curl of foam, and he saw ! Lucille Montejo's head and trailing } ■Mack hair within a few feet of ■ him. By fast and hard strokes Dick cleav- • ed a way through the billows. He reached the girl and slipped one arm round her. She struggled in his grasp and tried to turn and clutch him with her hands. This increased the danger of the situation tenfold, and Dick nearly lost hope. j "Keep cool .' Don't take hold of me " he cried. "I£ ...

CHAPTER XVTir. THE RETREAT FROM THE YACHT. The devastating eBcct of the pir ate's two shots was correctly gauged by Captain Gore on the instant that he saw them strike, and knowing that the man-of-war's progress was checked, he acted with his usual promptness and decision. Hastening to the bridge, he rang his hell hard, and shouted a couple of orders. The steam was shut off, and the ridges of foam fell away from the bow, the King of Troy lay gracefully and at ease on the swell. By this time the man-of-war was laying-to, and it was apparent to all that she was out of action and badly crippled. The tumult that then burst from end to end of the cruiser's deck was dreadful. Frantic with savage exultation, the horde of pirate ruffians screeched and clam oured until they were hoarse. From the bridge, with a fiendish smile on his face, Captain Gore looked down upon his motley crew. And to f>ick, as he listened to the din and gazed out over the water, the moment was a black and bitter on...

(All Rights Reserved.) ft Story of a Strange and Exciting Adventure. ♦ By W. Murray Graydon, Author of 'Matthew Quin," "The Curse of the Cardews," et'c., etc. PART 7. CHAPTER XVII. THE BATTLE OF THE TITANS. The excitement ou the cruiser was now intense. Men clamoured and cursed, and Captain Gore, looking from the bridge through his glasses, uttered a frightful oath. Then, all at once, the .tumult faded and there was a 'brief moment of awed silence. For the mystery had been revealed. The banks of mist, rolling -wider apart, disclosed a great white steamer a quarter of a mile beyond the yacht, and but a short distance astern of her. The strange ship bristled with a wealth of armament, and men were . crowded on her deck. And by more than one sign she was promptly re cognised as an American man-of-war. The discovery, of course, was mu tual. The yacht bore on rapidly, and left an open stretch of sea, half a mile wide, between the two big crui sers. They were now abreast, of each other, a...

FERTILISERS ON MEADOWS. The .Agricultural Department of tho Swiss Government have just published an interesting report of experiments conduct; d over three years to test the eHec't of different fertilisers on nie:ulow" land. Tho fertilisers experimented with were nitrogen, phosphate of lime, and potash, tho fertilisers being tried alono nnd mixed. The conclusion arrived at ,-s that, in order to obtain the heaviest ;>nd most profitable crops, it is neoi'S snry to supply fertilisers containing tha three principal fertilising substances— phosphoric acid, potash, and nitrogen. Tho i-xtra yield obtained from this sys tem of manuring covers the cost of the fertilisers and leaves a good profit. Tho effect of tho manures is more mark ed on the first cutting than on the second cut, the overage increase hav ing been found to be from 62 to 100 per cent, on the former, and 20 to 40 per cent, on the second crop,

APPLE EXPORTS. Fruitgrowers,' who export appio.s' tu Europe, will be interested iii some sta tisticsr compiled by }!>• Thus." Walker, regarding the actual results of shipments made last season from Tas mania, under the private marks of individual orchardings. The opera tions of 20 small growers, ranging in quantity from 111 to 803 cases, and aggregating G400 cases for the season, gave a net return 011 Hobart wharf of 6/10 to 9/9 per case. Sixty seven other growers exported between ihein 32,-1 Go and their individual average net re turn for the season on Hobart wharf ranged from 3 9 to 5/}» per case. It must bo remembered that Tasmanian apples as a rule do not sell in luiropo at such high prices as tho«c from the main land of Australia. This evidemo tends to show thai small lines of well selected and carefully-packed apples realise more money than the same class of fruit in large quantities. Buyers apparently are prepared to pay a con siderable premium to secure the whole of any c...

REPORT ON THE EXPERIMENTAL ! POTATO FIELD, 1912-13. (By Geo. Seymour, "in the ''Journal oi: Agriculture.") Tlie experiments conducted during 1 the period und^r review were a eon iinuutiou of the previous year's \voik. .Plots wero established at the following centres:—Alberton, Leongatha, for va rieties and manure tests; Yi armani bool, if or varieties only; and Port Fairy, for artificial manures exclusive ' e'oNGATHA PLOT IN THK SEASON 1911-12. This plot was-established in the sea son 1911-12 for the purpose oi' testing the resistance to disease of different varieties; but as the blight did not make its appearance during the sea sons mentioned, no information was col lected. It was also decided to apply dressings of. superphosphate to conhrm the results obtained during 1911-12 with regard to the action of phosphoric acid in checking the attack of eel worm. On harvesting the crop that , season it was found that the unnianur ed section showed quite 50 p.sr cent, more diseased tubers t...

A CARD pr, Alex.- Cook: has . removed his premises to' the Commercial Hotel, •ivher e he nifty be consulted daily Until yotf are worse before starting a campaign against disease. No matter how slight may be your indisposition your duty to yourself demands that Immediate steps be taken to disperse it. Of course, you expect to get better and not Worse, but where health is in question youare never justified ifi leaving anything to chance, and, as is well known, indis position, instead of disappearing of its owrraweet will, frequently develops serious disorders if neglected. Your safest course is to whfch fifei the World's finest household remedy for the cor rection of derangements of the StomaGh, liver, or kidneys. Slight headaches, loss of appe tite, a nasty taste in the mouth and other, little symptoms of that sort are indications of digestive disorder, and may be regarded as Nature's warning of worse, troubles to follow if the cause of the present ail ment be not speedily removed. D...

iuiimuhEcSb Shirs Cannes I ENGINEER'S" REPORT -Alt thfe'last meeting: of tho council tiie engineer (Mr Broadhurst) t:ub shitted his report as follows.— 1. Contractor Turner, in the laast riding', completed the work repulred on- the road along tne tforth-of Mr' • A; Knowling's pro perty he was then permitted to take on the construction of some private channels to meet ratepayers urgent' necessity for water. He is now doing some urgent work near I&amp;rHbtkei's, in Rupanyup- parish, which' has- been waiting 2 or 3 vears. Contractor has been working in the- North riding, the parish of Nullau, where he ias completed about' 60 chains la the seighbo-jrfcood of Messrs Hot %er. McLean; and Schurniarin. 2; Ih consequence of1 repeated' Zoinplaints concerning damage done by rabbits on the burned clay rioad throtigh L,ongerenong- ^ drove down and inspected it> a. found there are six old timber ca. •srerts across it, three of"^ which are fcladly infested with rabbits, and the liolestnade ...

NOISELESS CITY STREETS. There is coming into use in ."Germany a cheap and ready method 1/ asphalting a stone-paved street, wnk-ii u .Vowing good results. The space between pav ing blocks are olc-aned i.tit lo tiiedepih of about an inch, and then a layer of melted asphalt is flowed over the street surface, the depth of the layer being about one inch. 13ci'o:e it is cuolcd, sand is sprinkled on and the surface is smoothed. At Frankfort a section of this kind is now laid, and it appears to 'stand the wear rc—arkably well. ?aouM the method pi .", o a success iu. general practice it will ufford an ex cl ient means of deadening the imi.-o of city traffic at a small expens.*. It is quickly carried out, and it need not stop tho circulation on narrow streets for any leugth of time. Moreover, rcDairs are easily made.